ANSD : Back to earth

SUN 24 - 11 - 2024

Date: Jul 10, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Back to earth

Hanna Anbar| _{The Daily Star Editorial}
In 2016, the Lebanese celebrated the election of a new president with Reform and Change as the promise the country was waiting for.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the behavior of those entrusted with this legacy to become full-time actors on a stage now broken by the weight of their own egos and ambitions, at the expense of the economy and the political and social order. Megalomania has become the order of the day.

This mode of running state affairs has created resentment and frustration. Worse, it has chipped away at the presidency, whose authority and power has been used as a springboard for political theatrics. Even such politicians know that the Lebanese are neither impressed nor convinced by such displays.

It has almost become boring to keep hammering on about the economy. Yet the county is in dire straits on every level, and serious measures are needed without delay. The government should be working around the clock to address the plethora of challenges facing the country.

Doing so has become a matter of survival.

The Free Patriotic Movement and its leader have become intoxicated with a false sense of grandeur. They seem determined to have national issues tailored to their own demands and interests, regardless of the harm done to the vast majority of the population.

The FPM leader has forgotten what he really represents and whose power, authority and prestige he is abusing. Intoxicated with the idea that the country revolves around him, he is becoming a professional provocateur, making enemies left, right and center, bolstered by an orchestra of followers who chant praise for Gebran Bassil through echo chambers of traditional and social media.

It’s time for the real power behind the FPM - the president, whose perseverance and resilience is respected by all - to intervene. He must bring Bassil back to earth and affirm that his regime will not be run through blackmail and provocation.

The boat is sinking, and there is no use pretending otherwise.

Collective effort through the working of the unity government is the only answer.

_{A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on July 09, 2019, on page 1.}

The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Arab Network for the Study of Democracy

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